Today marks the first meeting of the 2009 season between the Arches & Ivy rivals. Adam Wainwright will go for the Cardinals against the Cubs' Sean Marshall this afternoon at Wrigley in the first weekend set at the old stadium this year.
Side note: Look for Chad and me in the bleachers of Sunday night's game on ESPN.
It's no secret that the Cardinals have had tough luck against Chicago the past three or four seasons and look to reverse the trend in 2009. These early series against the Cubs always provide a false sense of urgency because of the rivalry, as a bad showing still only counts for four games of a 162 game season, but it's still nice to beat your rival.
Ideally, the Redbirds would sweep, but the likelihood is slim. On paper, today would be a good chance at a win as Wainwright has emerged as a true ace over the past year, and Sean Marshall has struggled to stay with his big league club -- which is not to say he's a bad pitcher.
He's actually seemed to be pretty tough on Redbird hitters, and Wainwright has been up and down against the Cubs. After today, however, it gets tricky -- especially with the loss of Carpenter.
Either way, should be a lot of fun from Chicago this weekend!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Astros 3 Cardinals 5
WP: Pineiro
LP: Hampton
S: McClellan
Jason Motte made it interesting in the 9th by allowing two runners to reach base before La Russa pulled the plug on the rookie. Kyle McClellan came in and struck out Kaz Matsui and induced a groundout from Hunter Pence to end the game.
How many times are the Redbirds on the wrong side of a game where they significantly outhit their opponents and lose the game? Last night the Cardinals had only six hits but scored five. The Astros put up 11 hits and scored three. I could be wrong but it seemed like last season the opposite happened way too often.
Honestly, I saw only the last two innings of this game -- missing most of the Redbird offense. Ryan Ludwick homered and Schumaker went 3-5.
At least for the moment, all is right in the baseball world. The entire NL Central is looking up at St. Louis, as the Cardinals hold a half-game lead over the Cubs, Brewers and Pirates.
Saturday, April 11:
Astros (1-3) @ Cardinals (3-2)
LP: Hampton
S: McClellan
Jason Motte made it interesting in the 9th by allowing two runners to reach base before La Russa pulled the plug on the rookie. Kyle McClellan came in and struck out Kaz Matsui and induced a groundout from Hunter Pence to end the game.
How many times are the Redbirds on the wrong side of a game where they significantly outhit their opponents and lose the game? Last night the Cardinals had only six hits but scored five. The Astros put up 11 hits and scored three. I could be wrong but it seemed like last season the opposite happened way too often.
Honestly, I saw only the last two innings of this game -- missing most of the Redbird offense. Ryan Ludwick homered and Schumaker went 3-5.
At least for the moment, all is right in the baseball world. The entire NL Central is looking up at St. Louis, as the Cardinals hold a half-game lead over the Cubs, Brewers and Pirates.
Saturday, April 11:
Astros (1-3) @ Cardinals (3-2)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Pirates 1 Cardinals 2
WP: Carpenter
LP: Ohlendorf
S: Reyes
What's the old adage? "A win is a win is a win is a win!", right? Typically when the score is 2-1 that's the case. But today was pretty frightening for most of the contest.
Carpenter took a no-hitter into the 7th that was broken up by a solid single up the middle with one out. He pitched marvelously but Ross Ohlendorf (who had the definition of a "tough loss") pitched well too and kept the offense off the board. Would've been hard to watch had Carp been saddled with a no-hit loss.
In the bottom of the 7th, though, the Redbirds put it together and threw two runs up on the board to save Carpenter's brilliant outing.
Just a great pitchers duel that culminated with the Cardinals actually getting some timely hits and some good bullpen work to pull out the win.
Friday, April 10:
Astros (1-2) @ Cardinals (2-2) 8:15 EDT
Tragedy
Several media outlets report that Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim starting pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed shortly after the end of the game against the A's last night.
We use the word devastating when describing a baseball game, but this is the real definition of the word. Adenhart had earlier pitched six shutout innings before a driver ran a red light that apparently struck his vehicle, ending his life.
Terribly sad.
And an eerie reminder of the Darryl Kile and Josh Hancock situations over the past decade. Tony La Russa has way too much experience with this sort of thing -- I wonder if Mike Scioscia will reach out to him for any advice.
Terrible, terrible news.
Adenhart was 22.
We use the word devastating when describing a baseball game, but this is the real definition of the word. Adenhart had earlier pitched six shutout innings before a driver ran a red light that apparently struck his vehicle, ending his life.
Terribly sad.
And an eerie reminder of the Darryl Kile and Josh Hancock situations over the past decade. Tony La Russa has way too much experience with this sort of thing -- I wonder if Mike Scioscia will reach out to him for any advice.
Terrible, terrible news.
Adenhart was 22.
Pirates 7 Cardinals 4
WP: Duke
LP: Wellemeyer
S: Capps
Tonight was one of those games that about 1,000 different thoughts ran through my head with every pitch.
The lineup ran as:
LF Rasmus
SS Greene
1B Pujols
RF Ludwick
C Molina
CF Ankiel
3B Freese
P Wellemeyer
2B Ryan
So I began thinking about this and something really freaked me out. Is this really a lineup that can get some things done this year? Tony La Russa is a miracle worker, we all know that. And last year's lineup wasn't much different -- and they put together a 10-over .500 season.
But Ludwick had a career year and Molina hit the cover off the ball. Can a lineup with a lot of experience issues compete for a division title?
Again, as fans, we tend to get so psyched for the start of baseball, we grossly over-analyze the first few games of the season. If the Cardinals can get a win tomorrow, they'll have split the opening series with the Pirates -- if not, they'll be 1-3...still only two games under .500 with 158 to play. Sounds silly when you say it out loud.
To bring it full circle, does this team really have it? In late innings, when a team needs some clutch hits to get themselves back in the game, after Albert, will fans really be all that confident in whoever is next at the plate? Time will tell, of course, but tonight made me a little uneasy.
As far as the game -- not too pretty.
The Pirates will likely have another sub-.500 season and they put up 12 hits on the Cardinals starter and 17 overall. Wellemeyer was bad (although the bullpen was OK). There was hardly any offense and the only time you felt good about what was happening, Joe Thurston gets himself thrown out at third trying to stretch his double with no one out in the 9th. Don't know if that was his or Oquendo's fault, but a runner on second or a runner on third makes no difference when down three with no one out.
Phew.
Oh well, tomorrow's a new day. And the 2008 Cardinals didn't fare well against Pittsburgh either. Let's go grab a W tomorrow, Redbirds.
Thursday, April 9:
Pirates (2-1) @ Cardinals (1-2) 1:40 EDT
LP: Wellemeyer
S: Capps
Tonight was one of those games that about 1,000 different thoughts ran through my head with every pitch.
The lineup ran as:
LF Rasmus
SS Greene
1B Pujols
RF Ludwick
C Molina
CF Ankiel
3B Freese
P Wellemeyer
2B Ryan
So I began thinking about this and something really freaked me out. Is this really a lineup that can get some things done this year? Tony La Russa is a miracle worker, we all know that. And last year's lineup wasn't much different -- and they put together a 10-over .500 season.
But Ludwick had a career year and Molina hit the cover off the ball. Can a lineup with a lot of experience issues compete for a division title?
Again, as fans, we tend to get so psyched for the start of baseball, we grossly over-analyze the first few games of the season. If the Cardinals can get a win tomorrow, they'll have split the opening series with the Pirates -- if not, they'll be 1-3...still only two games under .500 with 158 to play. Sounds silly when you say it out loud.
To bring it full circle, does this team really have it? In late innings, when a team needs some clutch hits to get themselves back in the game, after Albert, will fans really be all that confident in whoever is next at the plate? Time will tell, of course, but tonight made me a little uneasy.
As far as the game -- not too pretty.
The Pirates will likely have another sub-.500 season and they put up 12 hits on the Cardinals starter and 17 overall. Wellemeyer was bad (although the bullpen was OK). There was hardly any offense and the only time you felt good about what was happening, Joe Thurston gets himself thrown out at third trying to stretch his double with no one out in the 9th. Don't know if that was his or Oquendo's fault, but a runner on second or a runner on third makes no difference when down three with no one out.
Phew.
Oh well, tomorrow's a new day. And the 2008 Cardinals didn't fare well against Pittsburgh either. Let's go grab a W tomorrow, Redbirds.
Thursday, April 9:
Pirates (2-1) @ Cardinals (1-2) 1:40 EDT
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Pirates 3 Cardinals 9
WP: Lohse
LP: Snell
Put the first tally in the W column as the Cardinals triple up the Bucs tonight 9-3.
To me, the big story from the game was Yadi being halfway to the cycle by the midpoint of the game -- no biggie, right? Well if you watched the game you know he had a homer and a triple...a TRIPLE. He chugged it out and it looked ridiculous but it was absolutely lovely when his helmet flew off -- his newly bleached blonde hair exposed -- and the ball skipped away from Andy LaRoche to secure the heavy-footed catcher's first triple of the season.
Lohse's line will look great in the boxscore with 7.0 IP, allowing a couple of runs off five hits. His stuff was pretty good considering it was the second game of the season. And after a bullpen nightmare yesterday, the relievers were perfect tonight in 2.0 IP.
More notes:
Pirates (1-1) @ Cardinals (1-1) 8:15 EDT
LP: Snell
Put the first tally in the W column as the Cardinals triple up the Bucs tonight 9-3.
To me, the big story from the game was Yadi being halfway to the cycle by the midpoint of the game -- no biggie, right? Well if you watched the game you know he had a homer and a triple...a TRIPLE. He chugged it out and it looked ridiculous but it was absolutely lovely when his helmet flew off -- his newly bleached blonde hair exposed -- and the ball skipped away from Andy LaRoche to secure the heavy-footed catcher's first triple of the season.
Lohse's line will look great in the boxscore with 7.0 IP, allowing a couple of runs off five hits. His stuff was pretty good considering it was the second game of the season. And after a bullpen nightmare yesterday, the relievers were perfect tonight in 2.0 IP.
More notes:
- Pujols, Molina and Duncan all notched their first homers of the season
- Nice to see a 12-hit performance out of the team
- Colby Rasmus' career batting average is .500...
- Just a really good overall game for the Redbirds -- one they will hopefully build off of the remainder of the homestand
Pirates (1-1) @ Cardinals (1-1) 8:15 EDT
Monday, April 6, 2009
Want to feel a sting?
Several hours ago Jason Motte finally ended an infuriating 9th inning. Several moments ago, newly acquired Angel, Brian Fuentes, shut the door on the A's on national TV to preserve a shutout.
What could have been...
Disclaimer: By no means do I think the season is lost or anything crazy like that. Motte has plenty of time to get things together -- or, La Russa has plenty of time to make a change if things don't work out. Just saw some irony in watching Fuentes do what the Cardinals have longed for since Wainwright closed out the 2006 World Series.
What could have been...
Disclaimer: By no means do I think the season is lost or anything crazy like that. Motte has plenty of time to get things together -- or, La Russa has plenty of time to make a change if things don't work out. Just saw some irony in watching Fuentes do what the Cardinals have longed for since Wainwright closed out the 2006 World Series.
Put me on record...
This has nothing to do with the Cardinals or Cubs, but I want this to be in writing. I spent the entire off-season thinking to myself, "when can we go ahead and say Howie Kendrick is one of the best hitters in the game?"
Well he just homered for the Angels prompting me to make this prediction:
Howie Kendrick will be in the running for a batting title in the AL this season.
He'll need more ABs this year, as he's never even played in 100 games. But he's going to start this season and it's going to be a big one for Mr. Kendrick. Come on, Howie...don't make me look stupid!
Pirates 6 Cardinals 4
WP: Grabow (1-0)
LP: Motte (0-1)
S: Capps
Apparently it doesn't matter who you are, if you pitch the 9th inning in a Cardinals uniform you're going to fail. With a two run lead, Jason Motte let four runs cross the plate after getting himself two outs. Pathetic.
It's Opening Day so you often lose sight that it's still only one game and there are 161 to go. But it's a real eerie reminder from last season, with another Jason screwing things up in the late innings.
Aside from the bad, bad loss, Albert started off the season well and Ryan Ludwick came up with a big homerun that should have won the game. Wainwright didn't do too bad either.
Anyone else sick to their stomach?
Tuesday:
Pirates (1-0) @ Cardinals (0-1) 8:15 EDT
LP: Motte (0-1)
S: Capps
Apparently it doesn't matter who you are, if you pitch the 9th inning in a Cardinals uniform you're going to fail. With a two run lead, Jason Motte let four runs cross the plate after getting himself two outs. Pathetic.
It's Opening Day so you often lose sight that it's still only one game and there are 161 to go. But it's a real eerie reminder from last season, with another Jason screwing things up in the late innings.
Aside from the bad, bad loss, Albert started off the season well and Ryan Ludwick came up with a big homerun that should have won the game. Wainwright didn't do too bad either.
Anyone else sick to their stomach?
Tuesday:
Pirates (1-0) @ Cardinals (0-1) 8:15 EDT
Opening Day Lineup
2B Ryan
CF Ankiel
1B Pujols
SS Greene
RF Ludwick
C Molina
LF Duncan
3B Barden
P Wainwright
Just a couple notes:
CF Ankiel
1B Pujols
SS Greene
RF Ludwick
C Molina
LF Duncan
3B Barden
P Wainwright
Just a couple notes:
- LHP Paul Maholm pitches for the Bucs today, keeping Schumaker from starting. Kind of surprising, even if La Russa hates the lefty-lefty matchup -- especially since he's starting Chris Duncan in LF
- Adam Wainwright is hitting 9th instead of 8th
- Brian Barden will start at 3B -- it'll be interesting to see who wins that third base job until Glaus comes back...or will Troy Glaus become Wally Pipp?
- I really never would've guessed Chris Duncan or Brendan Ryan would be in the Opening Day lineup before Spring Training
- Khalil hit well in Florida and has earned himself the cleanup spot -- probably would've expected him and Ludwick to bat in opposite order, but not a huge surprise
Opening Day is HERE
Well first of all, let me apologize for the lack of posts over the past couple weeks. I spent some time in Colorado and just came back a day or two ago.
But nonetheless, Spring Training is finally over and the Major League season begins today. Read that last sentence to yourself again...aloud. It's here, folks. It's here. Ahh...things make sense again.
Pirates @ Cardinals (4:15 EDT)
Cubs @ Astros (7:05 EDT)
As is standard, there's been pretty good weather across the country for a week or so. But once baseball begins, snow falls in places that haven't seen freezing weather for months and the first thunderstorms of the year hit America's large cities. But all is good, we're going to push through and play a lot of baseball today.
There will be some great games today. Check back with us!
But nonetheless, Spring Training is finally over and the Major League season begins today. Read that last sentence to yourself again...aloud. It's here, folks. It's here. Ahh...things make sense again.
Pirates @ Cardinals (4:15 EDT)
Cubs @ Astros (7:05 EDT)
As is standard, there's been pretty good weather across the country for a week or so. But once baseball begins, snow falls in places that haven't seen freezing weather for months and the first thunderstorms of the year hit America's large cities. But all is good, we're going to push through and play a lot of baseball today.
There will be some great games today. Check back with us!
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